A runaway tortoise thought to be up to 100 years old is back with his owners – after almost being run over by the person who found him.

Sue Phelps, 73, and her 86-year-old husband, Terence, were left distraught after Fred went missing from their back garden in the New Forest earlier this month and believed he had been stolen.

A Good Samaritan spotted Fred on the carriageway in Blackfield and took him home for safe keeping.

After being made aware that a tortoise owned by Sue and Terry Phelps had disappeared a week earlier, he contacted the couple and quickly established that it was the same creature.

He drove to their home and reunited the couple with their much-loved pet.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous, was more than a mile from the couple’s home when he suddenly saw the reptile in front of his vehicle.

“He was right in the middle of the carriageway and I almost ran him over,” he said.

Describing the moment he reunited Fred with his owners he said: “I’m very happy for them. I’m glad I picked him up and didn’t just leave him there.”

Mrs Phelps added: “Fred was very hungry – I think he’s going to eat us out of house and home – but I’m just glad to have him back.

“We fed him his special lettuce, plus tomatoes, strawberries and grapes.

“I hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since he went missing. After he came home I sat on a bench and went to sleep while looking at him.”

The couple have had Fred for 30 years and were distraught when he went missing from their back garden.

Following his disappearance they told police that he had almost certainly been stolen.

“They still suspect he was taken and was either dumped by the thief or escaped.

Mrs Phelps said: “I don’t know what to think.

“Everyone knew that Fred was missing – I’d told anyone I could think of – and yet no-one saw him for a week.”